StanleyDonwood is well known for his collaboration with Radiohead, having produced the artwork for the bands album and single record sleeves since 1994, when he designed the artwork for My Iron Lung.

Donwood’s artistic flair has earned him a number of accolades which he is generally reluctant to mention; and has in 2001 won a Grammy along with Doktor Tchock for best Packaging/Artwork for the Special Edition of Amnesiac.

Donwood has also published a selection of books, the most recent being ’Slowly Downward; A collection of miserable stories’, 2005 and is currently working on two new books to be entitled ’Household Worms’and ’Folly’.

These were painted by Stanley in the band's Los Angeles studio during the final recordings of the Hail to the Thief album itself.

StanleyDonwood was described by GQ magazine as "the Terry Gilliam of Radiohead", which he hated, saying "a soundbite is a statement designed to preclude intelligent thought".

Stanley's art veers from propagandist graphics to introspective illustrations, but a consistent strength is its combination of deep personal and political emotions with modesty and humour; weighty subjects examined not entirely seriously but certainly respectfully.

After graduating, Donwood worked as a freelance artist in Plymouth, England, until asked by Yorke to produce the cover art for The Bends, beginning a long collaborative working relationship between the pair for produce Radiohead art and promotions.

Donwood's most recent exhibition, "London Views", is a series of fourteen woodcut-style prints of various London landmarks being destroyed by fire and flood.

Dead Children Playing, at the city's Iguapop Gallery, will feature paintings and linocuts by StanleyDonwood and the collaborator he calls "Dr Tchock" - widely believed to be a pseudonym for Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke.

The cover of the band's 2000 album Kid A, Donwood says, was inspired by a Guardian front page photograph he saw during the Kosovo war.

Donwood's most recent cover, for Yorke's solo album The Eraser, is taken from a stark 13ft linocut that the artist shaped with a chisel.

"StanleyDonwood is the pen name of English writer and artist Dan Rickwood, who has gained fame for his work on the album and poster art for Radiohead on every release since their My Iron Lung EP (1994).

Donwood cites Caspar David Friedrich and Hieronymous Bosch, as well as time spent in war museums and mountain landscapes[2], as influences in its bleak, post-apocalyptic style.

Donwood's most recent exhibition, "London Views", is a series of fourteen woodcut-style prints of various London landmarks being destroyed by fire and flood.

Donwood's work has made him almost an invisible sixth member, and it has played a large part in shaping Radiohead's essence.

The Donwood Effect has now been given wider exposure — the bears are his design, and the band’s public image is changing with his increasing influence over it.

A guide to and collection of the work of StanleyDonwood, including a history of the official Radiohead site, Donwood's sketchbook, an exploration of the source of his use of pictographic symbols, and exhibitions information.

When originally planning the packaging for this release, Thom Yorke and StanleyDonwood had trouble finding a concept on which to base the artwork since they had to develop an idea which was completely new.

Donwood remarks that he and Thom were struggling so much that the best they could come up with was "Airbag: We are Running out of Ideas… E.P".

This particular tongue in cheek excerpt bears a remarkable similarity to the introduction to the NODATA questionnaire discussed elsewhere, Donwood's concerns about the growth of the data industry evidently powerful enough to express in the cover artwork for Radiohead as well as his own independent projects.

StanleyDonwood's artwork graces nearly every hard copy of Radiohead music I own.

Above: Such a Pretty House; originally made by StanleyDonwood and, ahem, "Dr. Tchock", for the cover of the Radiohead single No Surprises, from the album OK Computer.

This was just as Kid A was being released; Donwood had collaborated with Radiohead, Shynola, and Chris Bran to make a bunch of super-short little online promo videos for the record, which they called "blips," instead of doing full-song-length MTV-style videos.

Stanley: That is too hard a question for me. I've been pretty happy, on the whole, with all of the Radiohead work that I've done.

Stanley: I've had a site called slowlydownward.com for ages, which has a lot of my written work on it; as I say, I used to make screenprints and I really like the process of printing and how the finished prints look.

Stanley: The first one was called 'Slowly Downward', and it was originally published by a bloke I met in the pub.

www.antimusic.com /features/05/radiohead/index.shtml (2456 words)

the prey of worms - murder by stanley donwood(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-18)

the prey of worms - murder by stanleydonwood

I agree with a lot of Donwood's views of today's society and I like the ways he presents those views.

This piece is included here to show a view of death that wasn't represented in the other poems.

Donwood (whose real name is Dan Rickwood -- "I like to separate the person I am at home -- washing up, vacuuming, picking up the kids from school and so on -- from whoever StanleyDonwood is," he says) has been friends with Yorke since their days at the University of Exeter.

Artwork from his various projects is available through Donwood's Web site, which also features some of his writings.

As one would expect, Donwood has been given a sneak peak into some new Radiohead material, much like audience earlier this week at the band's New York shows.